Interview: Nasa’s Jim Adams on aliens, Mars, the SKA and more

Thank you for listening to the TechCentral podcast. In this episode, Duncan McLeod talks to former Nasa deputy chief technologist Jim Adams about everything from the Square Kilometre Array to the search for alien life.

In the podcast, Adams — who is in South Africa to instil excitement in schoolchildren to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics — talks about his career at Nasa, whether it makes sense to send astronauts back to the moon and the difficulties humans will face in establishing a colony on Mars.

Adam talks about the plan to put a submarine on Jupiter’s moon Europa to explore its expansive ocean. He also talks about why the private sector, Nasa and other government agencies need to work together to explore space.

If the universe is teeming with life, why can’t we “hear” it, and what role will the Square Kilometre Array project and its precursor, MeerKAT, play as astrophysicists try to unlock the secrets of the universe?

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